Horse Racing / Bill Christine : California’s Problems Are Minor

California racing might be on the decline--the state’s share of betting dropped $9.7 million in 1985 and may show a bigger dip this year--but most other areas around the country are suffering even more.

It only takes a brief trip East for the realities of the depressed parimutuel business to sink in. In Pittsburgh, the 13th largest population center with 2.4 million people, live thoroughbred, harness and dog racing, plus betting on televised thoroughbred races from Philadelphia Park, are glutting the market. It is a market that can barely afford to support even one of these operations, considering the distressed steel industry and Pittsburgh’s high unemployment rate.

Pittsburgh has three tracks--the Meadows on the outskirts of the city and Waterford Park and Wheeling Downs in nearby West Virginia.

On a recent midweek night, when the weather was not especially cold by local standards, 1,010 people went to the Meadows for harness racing; 907 fans watched greyhounds run at Wheeling, and 835 were on hand for a thoroughbred card at Waterford. The same afternoon, there were perhaps 200 people at the Meadows to bet on televised races from Philadelphia.

The horses and dogs haven’t outnumbered the fans yet, but it’s close.

Curiously enough, of the four programs offered this particular day, the only one that probably turned a profit was the televised card from Philadelphia. Only a small section of the stands had to be opened, there were but 12 mutuel clerks needed to handle the action and a few concession stands were available. No admission and parking fees were charged.

A Meadows official said that the track’s break-even point on such a setup is about $20,000 in handle, and days when $50,000 is bet are not uncommon. This day, the horses running from Philadelphia on the numerous television monitors included a 5-year-old maiden, a 9-year-old gelding who was making his 138th start and an 8-year-old gelding who hadn’t won a race in almost three years.

The horses entered that night at Waterford were even older, and none was close to being a rough copy of John Henry. There were 37 horses entered that were at least 7 years old, topped by a 13-year-old gelding and an 11-year-old who finished third in the 215th race of his career.

This kind of racing epitomizes what’s wrong with the sport today--too many racing days and the resultant running of horses that have no business on the track.

In harness racing, the Meadows is not considered the boondocks. Each August, it holds the Adios Stakes, a $200,000 race. But last year, the Meadows lost a reported $1.5 million. This year, according to a track official, it may break even, partly because of the simulcasts from Philadelphia and from Penn National, a track near Harrisburg, Pa. Shortsightedly, the Pennsylvania State Horse Racing Commission prohibits simulcasting of races from out of state, except for special events like the Breeders’ Cup. Otherwise, the Meadows might be able to offer infinitely better New York races to its matinee customers.

The obvious question is why these tracks stay in business. The answer is that the owners can’t find anyone to take them off their hands.

Nine horses are likely to start Sunday in the $500,000 Hollywood Turf Cup, including Zoffany and Alphabatim, who have won the 1 1/2-mile Hollywood Park stake the last two years for trainer John Gosden.

The rest of the field will probably consist of Skywalker, Theatrical, Schiller, Pharostan (an Australian import) and three Charlie Whittingham-trained runners--Estrapade, Dahar and Louis Le Grand.

Skywalker, winner of the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita Nov. 1 and a horse with an outside chance of winning the year’s male-handicap title, will be making only his second appearance on turf, although he has trained on grass several times.

Estrapade, who has clinched the Eclipse Award for best female grass runner, having beaten males in the Budweiser-Arlington Million and the Oak Tree Invitational, ran third in the Breeders’ Cup Turf after leading until midstretch. Theatrical finished second by a neck in the race, being the victim of Manila’s late run.

When James Lackey went down, thrown by his mount following the first quarter-horse race at Los Alamitos Tuesday night, the jockey’s first thoughts were about missing the ride on Cash Rate in the $200,000 Champion of Champions Saturday night.

But a sore shoulder will not keep Lackey from an attempt to make Cash Rate the only horse other than his sire, Dash for Cash, to win the Champion of Champions two straight years. Dash for Cash won the stake in 1976-77.

Cash Rate, part of a three-horse entry with Six Popper and Countin the Cash, drew the No. 9 post in the Champion of Champions. Starting at the rail, the field for the 440-yard race consists of Six Popper, Corporate Bug, Countin the Cash, Solvency, Movin West, Sir Alibi, Gold Coast Express, Prissy Fein, Cash Rate and Easy Conversation.

Blane Schvaneveldt, who has won the race three times, trains five of the starters--Cash Rate, Countin the Cash, Easy Conversation, Sir Alibi and Prissy Fein.

Racing Notes

If jockey Pat Day can continue his pace for the rest of this month, he will become the first national champion in 20 years to win with at least 30% of his mounts. Day, who leads the country with 429 wins according to recent Daily Racing Form figures, is winning at a .303 clip. The last champion with a 30% rating was the late Avelino Gomez with a .320 percentage in 1966. Day, who holds a big lead in the races-won column, has taken that title three times in the last four years. . . . Eddie Baird, an apprentice who was unable to secure much business during a brief visit to Santa Anita early this year, began winning in Chicago and has continued to prosper in New York. Baird is third on the purse list for apprentices. Allen Stacy, a Maryland rider, leads the nation’s apprentices in wins, but the Eclipse Award is likely to go to Californian Corey Black, who finished his apprenticeship with about $800,000 more in purse money than Stacy. . . . The pattern continued this year in the Breeders’ Cup. Five of the seven winners at Santa Anita--everyone but Skywalker and Smile--had won their previous races. In three years, 12 of the 21 Breeders’ Cup winners have won their prep races.